Introduction: Self-determination theory is one of the most important motivational theories in the field of sport psychology which is widely used to understand the motivational regulations in the different aspect of sports behaviors. This theory showed that the motivational regulation ranged on the continuum from non-self-determined (motivation) to fully autonomous (intrinsic motivation) which is the intrinsic motivation indicated the most stable type of motivation.
Motivation and especially the intrinsic motivation affected from many factors. One of this factors is self-confidence. Many researchers said that how the individuals percept from their abilities (self-confidence) is effected the sport motivation. So, the purpose of this study was the investigation of the relationship between sport self-confidence and intrinsic motivation among skilled badminton athletes using self-determination theory.
Methodology: The method of this study was descriptive and used correlation. In order to find the relationship, badminton skilled athletes with at least 3 years of experience of participating in this field who have received medals in the provinces of Kerman 90 athletes were randomly selected using Cochran formula in the province of Kerman. In collecting data, the sport motivation (Pelletier & et al, 1995) and sport self-confidence (Vealey & Knight, 2002) questionnaires were used. For analyzes the data, was used Pearson correlation test.
Results: The results showed that there was a positive & significant correlation between sport self-confidence with its sub-scales and sport Intrinsic motivation (and its sub-scales) (p<0.05).
Discussion: As the self- confidence in practices and competitions increases, the sense of autonomy (self- determination) rises more and the athlete feels more satisfied and enjoys the activity more. Also when the athlete feels satisfied after learning and activity and mastering it, he/she gains more confidence and determined in doing more activities. This results are in line with self-determination theory. If psychological needs are satisfied, self-confidence will be created and will increase motivation.